The New Denver DataMan Website

I am starting to work on the new Denver DataMan website that will be done by the end of the summer if not sooner and it is helping me refine my process that I do with my client in helping them develop their websites.

When a client comes to me they have an idea what they want from a website. They say things like I want it to look good and be found on Google or maybe they say it they want it to have a blog. I am not much different, I know I want it to look nice, be easy to navigate, have lots of valuable content, be found on search engines and many more nebulous things. Now, I have to take these goals and make a plan for how execute the new site.

Some the key areas that will be tackled in the new Denver DataMan website will be:

• Better design with more graphics
• Better navigation
• Integrated Blog
• Better event registration
• Integration with social networks

Making these goals a reality takes working out the organization of content and then developing a design that matches the navigation. A website is the place that your brand can be most clearly expressed; It is also the place where you have the ability to best share your organizations story. The navigation of your website should move your visitors through the narrative of your brand.

Better navigation will also make it easier for visitors to find the content that is on the your site that right now goes unused or underused. Moving the DDM blog on to the main website rather than hosting in on this Google Blog Spot will help provide more content for Google to index.

Having better event registration will make the site more valuable as a business tool but also be easier for my clients to register for events.

With the site upgrade DDM will be on the new version of the content management tool (Drupal) that we use for websites and there are many more tools for integrating with social networks for us to use. Being more connected with social networks makes it more likely that visitors will share the site with others.

Developing a new website is not easy for reasons far beyond the technical challenges of moving content, users, design, etc. It is hard because if you don’t take the opportunity to make sure you are telling your story better then you are wasting your time.

Welcome to Now

Today I clicked on an ad on from Facebook for Sprint and I got to the new Now Widget which is one of the coolest/strangest things I have ever seen. From this talking widget you can see how many sticky notes are being created, top words being used online, Google searches as they happen and news. This disying aray of content is put together to promote the Sprint Now Network.

I wonder if Sprint will see sales from this site? This site just goes to show you that there are many things left to try with social media and the Internet.

Way To Long

It has been way to long since I last posted on my blog. I am breaking my own rule that companies should blog at least once per-week. Blogging is good for establishing yourself as an expert in the community as well as for providing food (information) for Google to eat up (index).

Now if I was to just right that first paragraph - that would be a cop out and not a valuable post. So, I will tell a story about a photographer I am helping build their potential blogging strategy.

The photographer who will remain nameless is hesitant to blog because he does not know what to share. This is often a common problem with bloggers. You will find that if you make an effort to think about opportunities there are more than enough and you don’t have to be boring or give away trade secrets.

Remember if the data makes you look like an expert, tells a story and is interesting then it will be read and help you define yourself as an expert.